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| Dear friend,
Some stories are so wild they are hard to believe. Yet Jessica Bates’s story isn’t fiction.
Jessica is a Christian and a mom of five children. A few years ago, she and her late husband were in a car crash. Her husband died on impact.
After hearing a radio broadcast, Jessica knew the Lord was calling her to adopt children in need. She desires to open her home to children, specifically a sibling pair who need a family to call their own.
But the State of Oregon wants to exclude her from adopting or fostering.
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| Jessica is asking only for the chance to serve others and access a state program on an equal playing field. This is something the Constitution demands.
But Oregon disagrees.
In fact, the Oregon Department of Human Services rules state that anyone seeking to adopt must set aside their biblical beliefs to promote contrary views on gender and sexuality.
This means parents must agree to use a child’s preferred pronouns, take children to LGBT-affirming events like Pride parades, and facilitate a child’s access to dangerous medical interventions like sterilizing puberty blockers.
But Jessica wants to lovingly care for and accept children in need without contradicting her Christian faith. Is that too much to ask?
Oregon is now refusing to allow certain Christians to adopt, while at the same time, they accommodate people of different religious and cultural backgrounds and try to pair children with families who are well suited to each other.
It’s a blatant act of religious discrimination.
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| Last year, the Department reported having nearly 8,000 children touch Oregon’s foster care system. Many of these children are waiting for their forever homes.
Make no mistake: Oregon officials are keeping children from loving homes to push radical gender ideology. This harmful practice must end.
That’s why Alliance Defending Freedom is representing Jessica in a lawsuit against Oregon’s Department of Human Services—to stop its religious discrimination and protect the right of Christians to adopt.
As a non-profit, our work is only possible because of the support of people like you. Will you
consider a tax-deductible gift of $25, $50, or even $100? Give today and your gift will be matched—dollar for dollar—up to $1.5 million, while matching funds last. That means when you give $50, we’ll receive $100.
Thank you for prayerfully considering standing up for "the least of these."
Alliance Defending Freedom
P.S. Jessica Bates just wants to provide a loving forever home for children in need. But Oregon officials say she and others like her are categorically unfit to care for children because of their religious beliefs about gender and human sexuality. There’s a word for this: discrimination. Will you help fuel Jessica’s case and others with a gift of $25, $50, or $100 today? Thanks to a limited-time matching grant, your gift will be doubled dollar for dollar—while matching funds last. Thank you! |
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